Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Balloons and Tunes, Haslemere

Last week, the girls and I were invited down to The Hen House in Haslemere to try out a new music class called Balloons and Tunes.

Balloons and Tunes is run by the lovely Christina Lydon - a qualified, HCPC-registered music therapist, who works within the NHS and also runs a private Music Therapy and parenting practice in Surrey, specialising in working with children and their families.Christina has a wealth of experience, having worked in children’s centres, nurseries and schools throughout London and Surrey, and she offers individual and family work as well as group sessions such as the Balloons and Tunes class.

Both Daisy and Evie love music and have been brought up listening to a variety of different genres, as well as being encouraged to express themselves by making lots of noise. We are a musical family and have lots of musical instruments around the house, all of which the girls like to play with. Christina's classes aren't just your average baby music groups; thanks to her background and extensive musical knowledge, each session is designed to encourage bonding, communication, play and development between parent and child.

There are lots of music sessions out there, and I've tried a lot of them, particularly when Daisy was little and we still lived in London. But what draws me to Christina's classes is that there is a structure to them. Not in a militant regimented way; just that she knows what she is doing and uses music (she uses mixture of songs and different instruments) to encourage children to join in and to enjoy themselves, teaching them to listen and wait and share in the process. Her classes also involve other pieces of sensory equipment like ribbons and scarves and a huge parachute, and aside from making the music, children are also encouraged to get up and dance to it!

The classes are stimulating and educational - as well as being super fun! - and I love that they are deliberately made up of small numbers so that she can connect with each child (and parent) individually. It also makes it easy for children and parents to get to know each other which is lovely.

Christina is holding taster sessions in Haslemere throughout the summer holidays, with a view to running permanent weekly sessions in the area come September.

If you're keen to join in then do tweet me or Christina (you can find her on Twitter here) or feel free to check out her website here. Christina is also available for bespoke parties for young children, or those with special needs, throughout Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex and SW London, and again, you can find out more on her website dedicated to parties here.

Although we were invited to our first taster class for free, we have been back this week as paying customers and Evie and I are all signed up to return every week in September. If you're local and are looking for a fabulous class for your pre-schooler I would wholeheartedly recommend Balloons and Tunes xoxo